Winning His Heart : Logical
by Karista N
Summary: Hinata investigates why Naruto and Sasuke were separated and restores peace to the ANBU ranks. MF, MM hints, Lemon, NaruSasu implied, NaruHina


A reply to ShadowSannin's "Winning His Heart" challenge from aff.n:

Story premisis - Naruto is deeply in love with Sasuke, but Hinata wins Naruto's heart instead.

Must contain at least one Naru/Hina lemon.

I've never done a challenge ever, but I've always wanted to. I dunno why this one caught my attention so easily, but it did, and I'm having fun playing with it. The lemon will only appear on aff.n under my same penname, the edited version will be posted here.

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Chapter 1

It was another one of those nights. That period of sleep had come where your mind loses all conscious rationale and lets out your darkest desires. Dark. Like his hair, and his jet black eyes. The depths of ebony that would draw him in with their cold gaze, shimmering only with anger and bloodlust in the heat of battle. He knew those eyes were hiding so much more; he wanted to see the passion those eyes hid, and the raw untamed lust he knew was lurking just beyond their glassy surface.

Naruto awoke to a clap of thunder and his eyes were first met with the blinding flash of the lightning that followed seconds later. The storm raged on outside his window and as Naruto sat there collecting himself, he began to realize that it mirrored his own mental state. It was another one of those dreams that he had just awakened from. All following the same basic formula: he and Sasuke were alone somewhere; an ANBU-rank mission, late-night paperwork in the main office, or on reconnaissance in a small border town's inn. Some cliché event would always happen; someone would get something spilled on them, a storm would hit, whatever facilitated in the removal of clothing that would trigger Naruto's animalistic tendencies and leave the two humping like dogs in heat. Or in their case, a nine-tailed fox in heat. Truth be told, the dreams scared him almost as much as they aroused him, as he knew full well how uncontrollable Kyuubi could be when he wanted something. He sighed and slipped a hand into his boxers to take care of the state these dreams usually left him in. The wind howled through the trees outside his apartment and the accompanying thunder masked the strangled gasp of "Sasuke" that escaped his lips as he reached his limit. This was the third night in a row that he had wound up in this situation, and coincidentally it was the third night since the Hokage had laid down the law with him.

Years had passed since the village of Konoha had ended the degrading years of being front-page news with their issues. Orochimaru had been slain, Akatsuki was disbanded, and the infamous Uchiha clan was now down to one proud member who had finally attained his goal. Sasuke had returned from Orochimaru in time to help thwart the Akatsuki's plans and kill his brother in one messy battle that left Konoha free of its demons, save their own personal demon of the nine-tailed variety. Naruto returned a hero, having played the most vital role in Konoha's victory, and in turn the village finally accepted him as one of their own, a big step toward his goal of becoming Hokage one day. Yet even with his village safe, and acceptance from the population secured, he was still left with a kind of belonging he could never quite satisfy. There was always the yearning he had to be "the one," that special someone to another person. The end-all, be-all, reason-they-got-up-in-the-morning. Having an entire town accept and admire you was one thing, but finding that one person that you meant the world to, and who made you complete, that was the final straw. Of course, Hokage was top priority, always had been and always would be, but his person, finding "the one", that was a VERY close second.

The rookie nine had grown by leaps and bounds in the ten years since they had entered their first Chuunin exam. Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, and Lee had all easily shot up the ranks to ANBU status by the time they were 18 while Chouji, Shikamaru and Shino seemed content to stop at Jounin rank. TenTen had proven to be fierce in her determination to be a great kunoichi and also attained ANBU status while Ino decided teaching as a Jounin would suit her just fine. Sakura and Hinata were the two that strayed furthest from the paths of the others, both electing to become among the first of a new wave of Medic Ninja that Tsunade herself was personally training. The girls were a wonderful combination of chakra precision and identification that could only be done through Sakura's control and Hinata's bloodline. It was no surprise to anyone when Tsunade announced them to be the ANBU squad's personal medical team, seeing as how their main five members were their former classmates and friends.

It was in the small office of the ANBU compound's medical wing that Hinata found herself working on the latest paperwork that had crossed the desk she and Sakura shared. While missions were no longer as incredibly dangerous and intense as they had been with the Orochimaru and Akatsuki battles of the past, they still had their share of wounds to tend to when the ANBU teams returned from a mission. The latest had been her personal favorite cell of Uchiha and Uzumaki, or as they were known as, the Hedgehog and the Fox. She giggled a bit as she recalled how Naruto had pretended to be offended the night he received his ANBU mask and animal designation. He was all but standing on the table at the ceremony, yelling about how bringing up his past issues with the demon-fox wasn't funny, until his newly appointed partner, Sasuke, brought him down with a swift kick to the ankle. More and more, it seemed to her as if Sasuke was the only one who could ever humble Naruto down once he got to one of his ranting tirades.

The next few pages of the report on their injuries snapped Hinata from her reverie as she examined the photographs and diagrams that documented their wounds. Sasuke looked to have suffered bruises to the lower torso and hip areas while Naruto was well lacerated on his back and freshly bruised around the neck, as if someone had tried to choke him. None of the wounds were anywhere near life threatening and they hadn't even been brought to the ANBU compound to be tended to. However, being the Konoha elite, a meticulous record was kept on each and every ANBU member's health, and the general hospital visit was well documented for their files. As she flipped through the report, it suddenly came to her that since the mission, the two men hadn't been working together at all. Sasuke was currently on a solo escort mission bringing a lord from a neighboring village back to his territory. Naruto was left in Konoha for the time being, apparently at the request of the Hokage herself. She made a mental note to visit him as soon as she checked in on her cousin, who was recovering from a particularly nasty fracture.

Neji was sitting in bed when his cousin stepped into the room. He nodded quietly to her and turned back to the book he was reading as she seated herself in a chair.

"Neji, how is your leg doing?" Hinata asked, pushing her fingers together. Her nervous habit from childhood wasn't prevalent in her day-to-day work, but when confronted with those she cared about, little things like that just slipped out.

"Better. Sakura-san did a good job mending the bone back together with her chakra. But you know that already, don't you."

Hinata blushed a little, deactivating her eyes as her cousin set the book down on the table and turned to her.

"You didn't come here to really check on me, and even if you did, words weren't necessary. Why did you find it necessary to talk?" he questioned, his eyes still blank but face showing a bit of concern. The Hyuuga family rarely talked to each other, unless it was a serious matter. Their eyes did all the talking for them, normally.

"I was wondering, they don't give us mission details, so I wouldn't know, but, um, is there some reason Naruto-kun and Uchiha-kun have been separated?" The frankness with which she blurted out her question astonished even Hinata and no sooner did her lips stop moving than she had placed her hand over them, should she repeat the outburst.

Neji blinked and shook his head, still a little shocked at the normally shy girl's brash inquiry. Finally, he cleared his throat, "There were a few...issues...on the last mission between Uzumaki and Uchiha. The Hokage has split the cell for the time being."

As usual, Neji only provided what few words would suffice as an answer to her question. No more was said, and Hinata grasped at the courage to ask further. "What kind of issues?"

He shook his head, "We're not even allowed that information. You'll have to ask them yourself." With that, he picked up his book and resumed reading, a signal to Hinata that her visiting time was over.

She stood and bowed to Neji before quietly exiting the room, knowing he'd soon be disappearing out the window anyway. As she gathered her personal belongings and headed out the door, she also gathered the courage to pay a visit to Naruto's apartment before going home for the night. Something was amiss in the partnership and she didn't need the Byakugan to tell her that it could be something troublesome.

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I'm thinking 2 chapters on this one, the setup and the knockdown. Don't hold me to this, classes start in a week and I'll try my hardest to finish things off. Of course, reviews are always a great incentive. hint 


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